MAGA to MEDIA: “MAKE THE COOL KIDS LET US SIT WITH THEM!”

Written By Terence Hawkins

Lest to right: Collegiate MAGAholes; fitness fanatic Steve Bannon; well-groomed muleskinner, auctioneer, and IRS Commissioner nominee Billy Long; Dr. Josef Goebbels

The piece below originally appeared in 2018, long before fascism was in full bloom. Recent developments, however, demonstrate that it continues to be apposite. First was Vivek Ramaswamy’s Yuletide rant about his troubled high school years, during which the overcoiffed overachiever was plainly victimized for his bookish pursuits; he specifically referenced his bone-deep resentment of jocks and prom queens in the context of 90’s sitcoms Saved by the Bell and Family Matters. Next, our incoming Duce nominated superannuated B-listers Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, and Jon Voight to "serve as his eyes and ears” in Hollywood. Finally, the Great Man himself intervened in the imminent demise of TikTok, hoping no doubt to ingratiate himself with these kids nowadays.

Clearly, MAGAworld is obsessed with our culture and its putative shortcomings—specifically, the unfairness with which it treats the weirdos, grifters, incels, and freaks who comprise the movement. The second, bolder, Trump presidency offers them an opportunity to get even.

Terence Hawkins

Terence Hawkins is an author and literary entrepreneur. 

His most recent novel, American Neolithic, was called "a towering work of speculative fiction" in a Year's Best review in Kirkus Reviews. "Leftovers" author Tom Perrotta said it is "a one of a kind novel. . . Terry Hawkins is a bold and fearless writer." Kevin Wilson, author of The Family Fang, said "American Neolithic is overflowing with ideas, the narrative running on overdrive at all times."

His first book, The Rage of Achilles, is a recounting of the Iliad in the form of a novel. Based on the Homeric text as well as the groundbreaking work of neuropsychologist and philosopher Julian Jaynes, it reimagines the Trojan War as fought by real soldiers, rather than heroes and gods. Richard Selzer called it "masterful. . .infused with all the immediacy of a current event."

Hawkins is also the author of numerous short stories and essays. His work has been published in Eclectica, Pindeldyboz, Poor Mojo's Almanac(k), and Magaera, as well as many other journals. His opinion and humor has also appeared in the New Haven Register and on Connecticut Public Radio.

In 2011, Terence Hawkins founded the Yale Writers' Conference. By 2015 it brought over three hundred participants from every continent but Antarctica to New Haven to work with celebrated writers including Colum McCann, Julia Glass, Colm Toibin, and Amy Bloom.

Hawkins now manages the Company of Writers, offering authors' services including weekend workshops and manuscript consultation. The Company also coaches first-time authors through the writing and submission process.

Terence Hawkins grew up in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town famous as the setting of Phillipp Meyer's American Rust. He is an alumnus of Yale University, where he served as Publisher of the Yale Daily News. He is married to Sharon Witt and lives in New Haven.

Hawkins is currently at work on another novel.

 

http://www.terence-hawkins.com
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